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27 January IM'i 

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This document contains inform rf 
affecting the national defense cf :. 
United States within the merrn^ ' f 
the Espionage Act, 50 U.S C. t ' 
32, as amended. Its trar 
or the revelation of its cont nts .. 
any manner to an una/uthoriz P'-" - ’ 
son is prohibited b~ law. 


























TABLE OF CONT3TTS 


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*o 


I Herman Policy in tho Occupied East 
A; Political 
3. Economic 

II German Policy in the Government General 
III German Policy in the Balkans 
IV German Policy in tho Occupied T.'est 
A, Denmark 
3. G orway 
C» Belgium 
D* Francs 
E„ Netherlands 
Fc Luxemburg 
V. Italy and Conclusion 


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SENARY 


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rerma.ii occupation policy is entering its final phase in eastern 
Europe and is preparing for that phase in the west* In the east* the 


Russian advance has removed rich areas from German control and cut tho 

ground from total economic exploitation 'with the result that the central 

agencies of this exploitation are being, dissolved*. In the east and 

southeast* the transfer of the territory to military administration is 

bringing v.’ith it a political emphasis by Germany on her mission of 

national liberation* a line which the TTazis have always followed in 

the period of military administration. In the west* the Germans are 

♦ * 
preparing occupied territory for this•transfer* and while maintaining 

as a front the political line of collaboration s are actually more than 

over subordinating the collaborationist elements to themselves as tools 

in the suppression of the native populations: The Germans in Italy 

furnish an example of an occupied western territory actually in the 

final phase of occupation* This example gives an intimation of the 

"socialistic" line which the ?Tazi3 are leaving as their last legacy and 

with which Allied occupation authorities may have to reckon* This study 

continues R a A A e TlOo 1342* Fu rther Developments in German Occupation 

Policy 9 and should be read in conjunction with R* & Ao !To a 1564*. on 


0 



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German Policy in the Balkans 















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develops t of german patter: of occupation 


In both eastorn and western occupied Europe the increasing pressure 


of tho unfavorable military situation is forcing the German scheme fo' 
the political and economic domination of Europe into a new phas8=*expenuing 
demands for military security and* in areas of German defeat* nominal 
concessions in the marginal field of civil administration, 

I- German policy* as conceived in the halcyon day3 of the occu¬ 
pation* looked to the incorporation of occupied Russia as a colonial 
space into the Greater German Reich Politically., the llazis were anxious 
to secure Cermany for all timo from Eastern attack by a total German 
domination of the Eastern peoples. Economically* they instituted a 
pattern of total exploitation which would not only help in the winning 
of the war but would play a permanent part in the German domination of 
the European economy- In both respects* the victories of the Soviet 
armies have driven German policy into a new pattern. 


A* In the sphere of general political administration* tho 


ebrmsoht is >*lraady beginning to assume control over certain areas 
.forderly under civilian authority* In the Caltic countries it has taken 

over the whole shoreline t< a depth of twe kilometers inland,, has de 
dared it a prohibited area* and has evacuated tho civilians to the 
interior; only certain ports and industrial areas like Tallinn and Riga 
have been excepted-l/ It has been further reported that Transnistria* 

l/ ?Tews Digest 1313* quoting Svenska Dagbladet * Dec 0 8* 1943- 






















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v;hich in October 1941 was shifted from Carman military to Runanisn 
ni.litery government "for auminiatration s protection,. .and exploitation" 

0> by virtue of tho German-Humanion Treaty of .19 . ugust 1943 , has been 

taken over again by the German h ehrmacht and tho Rumanian administration 
has been evacuated.!/ The preparation of the Occupied Eastern Terri¬ 
tories for the last stage of occupation,, by military government, has 
brought with it a political policy that is roughly similar to that of 
the first stage of occupation under military adjainistration—*»emphasis 
on the liberating mission of Germany in the east and tho enlistment 
of all possible native forces for collaboration in the administration 
of marginal civil affairs. In Estonia an'd Latvia., this policy has 
taker the form of permitting the native administrations to ord©** mi]i--= 
tary conscription of ten native year-classes on the basis of local 
lav% under a local commander, supervised by local military courts: 
hovever* this commander is the Ccrme.r>~appointed chief of the native 
TSaffen-'vS units, the conscripts arc to be mobilized into these units. 
and the conscription order, v;hilo promulgated by the leader of the 
native administration councils., is only valid by the authorization 
of the German Commissars General,2/ To illustrate to occupied Europe ihe 
^ benefits of collaboration, the Germans have broadcast promises of inde- 

pendonee to these Oeltic countries and are reported to bo actually making 
plans for such a. grant 3/ Lithuania has been specifically end publicly 

1/ Stockholm wire* 3857? 2€> ' ov 1943, 

2/ See Political Intelligence Report, Central Europe,, 27., 20, end 15, : T ov,1945 
3/ Stockholm wire , 7 Jan. 1944 OSS 26853 

































































































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sxceptsa from these plcns: the official reason is the want of colla¬ 
boration in this Baltic country, but actually the Germans refuse to 
concede even the fern cf sovereignty here because western Lithuania 
has bean used for cole* ization and constitutes a part cf the racial 
security wall of the .eichs Moreover, the Lithuanians are considered 
by the Germans ns mo *e Slavic than the Estonians and Latvians and 
aro lower on the rrcial scale Even here.; however the Germans have 
publicized anti •Bolshevik meetings and have authorized the native 
administration to form a Lithuanian national Guard on a voluntary 
basis to nerve 'Vdolf T 'itler as disciplined soldiers."1/ 

Even ir M e old Russian territories-*White Russia and the Ukraine-- 

. 

where the Ce -mans have for two years subordinated their liberation 
line to the policy of domination and exploitation, they are again 
assuming ,ho role of protector of the national minorities against 
Soviet o ;ression In V.hite Russia, the Germans follow the same pattern 
set up or the Baltic countries; publicity for anti-Soviet domonstra- 
tions followed by concessions to the nativ, collaborationists, Cn 
Decf nber 17, a Ge man news service announced that the workers of all 
th i factories in laronowicse had assembled in e protest meeting against 
•'ne intention of tie Soviet rulers to incorporate "White Ruthenia" into 
che Soviet Union A representative of the "White Ruthenian administration 
proclaimed, according to the German, report.; "the burning indignation 
of the "hito Rutheniui people who wore ready* one and all, to fight and 

1/ Jem wire, 6000, ;0 Det ., 1943,. 
















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die for their homeland* which had been liberated by the Germans„ n i/ On 
December 24* the German General Commissar announced the establishment 
of a new organ of self-administration in white Euthenia,.. the White 
Ruthenian Central Council* with headquarters at Einsko The official 
function of the new body is stated to be co-operation with the German 
authorities in mobilizing "all the forces of the White Ruthenian people 
against the yoke of the 3olshevik Reign of Blooda" It has the power 
and the obligation to propose to the German authorities all suggestions 
contributing to this mobilization,; but only for social* cultural* and 
educational matters can it make decisions and supervise their execution,. 
The President of the Central Council is appointed and dismissed by the 
Cerraan General Commissar* and the other members by the General Commissar 
on the nomination of the President- The first President is a Professor 
Ostrovski* who has revealed the function of his council by making an 
appeal to the White Ruthenien3 to chare Germany's blood sacrifice in the 
east* promising as a reward the destruction of the collective farm system 
and the reconstruction of White Ruthenian culture. This is only one of 
several measures taken at this time by the Germans which sets up the 
necessity of contribution in return for concessions: a network of strong 
points and armed villages garrisoned by native volunteers enrolled in 
police units and rewarded by the grant of property and land under the 
special protection of the German authorities was created; from 1 January 
extra rations are to be issued for the loyal performance of duties; 

l/ Tews Digest 1321* quoting DEB * 17 Dec* 1943, 


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5 


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any opposition to the German program was declared subject to severe 
punishment* 1/ Thus the Germans have themselves established the connection 
between their concessions and the mobilization of the natives of the 
territory for the military struggle. The character of the political 
concession is determined by the fact that actually little that is new 
is granted. Authority in the spheres of culture* education* end social 
affairs—those matters in which the newly-created Central Council is 
competent-—has long been exercised by another German-sponsored and domi« 
nated native institution* the Self-Help Organization, This agency has 
regional branches which are represented on the staffs of the German 
Regional Commissars and on the "national" level its Director has an 
official place on the staff of the General Commissar for TThite Ruthenia 
as Reporter for White Ruthenian National Affairs*. Moreover* a IVhite 
Ruthenian Trust Committee (Vertrauensausschuss) has also been in ex is- 
tence for some time as a central body making liaison between the popu- 

t 

lation and the German civil adninistrat.lcsio The competence of the new 
Central Council hardly goes beyond the powers of these prior native 
bodies* and this fact betrays its nominal nature. The propaganda char- 
acter of the German concession is further emphasized by the fact that 
it is not in harmony with the actual conditions ir. White Russia* since 
there has been little collaboration on the part of the native population* 
Indeed* the territory has a long record of active resistance. In September* 
Rosenberg publicly admitted that 15?o of the German agricultural leaders 

I./ Press Intello * quoting Transocean ,, 24 Dec, 1943; ibid* quoting 
Tilnaer Zeitung* 24 Dec* 1943; Dern wire* 123* 6 Jan 0 1944* 


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« 6 - 


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in White Ruthenia have been killed by "bandi ts"*> end "this activity was 
climaxed by the assassination of Wilhelm Kube* the General Commissar 

Reports reaching the Polish Government in Exile state that the 
propaganda of collaborationist elements (a small group of White Ruthen= 
ian intelligentsia* mostly imported from Germany and Czechoslovakia) 
does not penetrate to the masses. Landless peasants and farmhands as 
well as workers are almost exclusively pro=»Sovieto "The presence of 
Soviet guerrillas in White Russia as the only positive force creates 
sympathies for the Soviets and fosters faith in their might" writes a 
Polish political observer. Other groups * which are not for outright in- 
corporation into the Soviet Union*, are nevertheless opposed to the 
Germanso White Ruthenian nationalists are reported to have created a 
clandestine party (PUN* Party of Wliite Russian Nationalists) with an 
executive committee in Minsk 0 Some of them are pro=Poiisho Members 
of the clandestine Central Committee have approached agents of the 
Polish Government in Exile and made various suggestions for the solu¬ 
tion of the territorial problems of Polish White Ruthenia: establish¬ 
ment of an autonomous White Ruthenia as member of a Slav Federation or 
creation of an autonomous White Ruthenian province in Poland* 

Pro=*Polish tendencies are reported to be waning now in face of the 
advance of Soviet armies„l/ 

The German political pattern in the Ukraine is similar*, save that 
there no new native body has been created*, The Ukrainian national 

1/ See Special Report on Polish Under ground*, R. & A. 1201; Situation 
Report* Central Europe*, 3 Jan*, 1944 u 


SECRET 






secret 


committee setup in March 1943 under the similar circumstances created 
by the Soviet offensive after Stalingrad is played up- The German 
press has published the account of meetings of Ukrainians in many towns, 
including Rovno, the provisional capital, protesting against the attempts 
at assassination which have been made upon members of the German civil 
administration and the ftehrmacht ,l/ The Ukrainians, according to the 
Herman dispatches, resent the attempt of the Soviet Union to implicate 
them in bolshevik crimes and pass resolutions condemning themc2/ The 
function of the German emphasis, under conditions of defeat, upon their 
liberating missions, comes out clearly in^their broadcasts to Russian- 
reoccupied Ukraine* These seek to raise a fifth column whose hopes 
will be based on Germany: the Ukrainian flag will once more fly over 
2iev »nd Kharkov, for the Ukrainian Army of Liberation is marching to¬ 
wards the Ukraine, "Ukrainians; young and old,, peasants, workers and 
intellectuals~the Ukrainian Army is coining to you* To arms? Forward 
against the terrible enemy, the Bolshevik tyrant* For our freedom for 
a prosperous Ukraine, for our culture, for our present misfortunes and 
martyrs, for our brothers languishing in Bolshevik prisons, for Free 
Ukraine —death to the Bolsheviks;' Death to Staling/ 


l/ This was probably occasioned by the assassination of S.A*-Oberfiihrcr 
Funk, head of the Rovno Special Court. 

2/ ’Tews Digest 1314, quoting Deutsche Ukraine *eit -\mg , 23 . ov. 194o, 

3/FCC Daily ^Germany, in Ukrainian to the Ukraine, 22 Uovo 19 43 » xt 1S 
significant in this connection that the only recent expansion of German 
activity in the Ukraine is in the field of radio broadcasting. News Digest 
1331, Deutsche Ukraine Zeitung, 6 Nov* 1943. 


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The background against which this liberation policy must be soon 
is the beginning of the end of the German civil administration in the 
Ukraine,, Reich Commissar Koch* in hi3 Mev/ Year’s proclamation to his 
German administration revealed this fact bluntly; "The shortened front 
lines confront us with now »oid unaccustomed tasks.. Our duties differ 
from 1942; instead of building up* we are now winding up<,"l/ 

2o In the economic sphere„ the same breakdown of the pattern of 
civil administration is taking place„ Koch’s proclamation to the civil 
administrators of the Ukraine announcing the end of the program of 
reconstruction means*, economically* a transition from a fundamental 
economic reorganization by and for German economy to on economic admini« 
stration for military purposes 0 Thus Koch declared that the task of 
sending supplies to the front and surpluses to Germany remained the same* 
for "our duty towards the Fuehrer end the front soldiers is to make the 
riches of this country available to the German war effort*"2/ But the 
Reich authorities are in process of dismantling their apparatus for the 
permanent integration of the Occupied East into the German economy* The 
central office for the administration of economy in Occupied Russia* lo« 
cated in Kovno* has been taken over by Speer* who has been entrusted with 
its liquidation and its transfer farther west,. The Eastern Central 
Trading Co. ( Zentralhandelsgesellschaft Qst* mbH ) retains four offices--* 
in Lutzk* Minsk* Riga* and Vinnitsa--of the 600 it formorly had 0 The 




./ 3em wire* 408/ 18 Jen * 1944,, 
!*/ Ibid,, 


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centre! administrative offices in the Ukraine of the Eastern Trade 
Promotion Co-, ( rirtschaftseinsatz Os t* GmbH) h*v* been dissolved or 
transformed into temporary liquidation offices, l/ The dissolution of 
these bodies means that the economy of remaining German-occupied Russia 
has been turned over again to the Economic Staff East of the IVehrmach t 
for control on a military basis,2/ and that total civil exploitation 
has been given up* The meaning of this surrender becomes clear from 
the fact that the economy of the Occupied East has been directed cen¬ 
trally by Reich Government agencies with the purpose of integrating 
it completely into the Cerman war effort* The ilain Department for 
Economics within the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories 
was never formed; instead* the administration of economic affairs was 
given e for the duration of the war* to a special body called the Leader- 
ship Staff for Economic Policy ( Fuehrungsstab TTirtschaftspolitik) a which 
was led by the official for Occupied Eastern Affairs within the Reich 
Ministry of Economics., The Leadership Staff functioned in close harmony 
with the military Economic Staff East and with the other Reich agencies 
concerned with the German war economy 0 It would seem to be this office 
which has now been turned over to Speer for liquidation„ The two com¬ 
panies concerned were the most important Reich Government corporations 
created to exploit the Occupied East; they were trustees,., not merely of 
the territorial administration* but of the Reich* The Zentralhandelsgesel l- 
schaft Ostc (ZO) mbll was established in July 1941 by a decree of Goering 

l/ T3em wire* Dec, 19 9 1943* OSS 26288, 

2/ Quote R. L A» Study* technical and Economic Troops in Oc cupied 
Europe"* R« 5 A 0 No. 378o*5>I 















10 


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as Delegate for the Four Year Plan with exclusive control over the 
collection* processing* end distribution of tho agricultural produce 
of occupied Russia 0 vhilc cubject to the directives of the Reich 
Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories and the Economic Staff 
East c its members consisted of five Reichsstel len for agricultural 
products and its Board was composed of representatives of the Reich 
Ministries of Economics and Finance arid of the Delegate for the Four 
Year Plan., The Z0 was entrusted with the task of supplying the 
rohrmacht and the Reich with tho agricultural products from the Occupied 
East, and in pursuit of that all-important aim was given broad econo- 
mic and administrative powers over collection 5 food-production* taid 
the general process of distribution: it sets up collection systems and 
centers, it organizes transport^ it establishes and administers food¬ 
processing factories, it provides agriculture with means of production,, 
and it has power to conclude contracts with German firms to take over 
these functions for particular areas„ under its constant supervision,, 

It had twelve subsidiary companies in the Reich Commissariat Ukraine 
aloneo it was considered as the provisional organ cf State monopoly 
which would* through its contracts* prepare the way for the taking over 
by private German firms* However* with the dissolution of the Wirts- 
cha ftseinsatz Qst GmbH* the death-knell of private Cerman trade in 
Occupied Russia is likewise sounded. This corporation was created in 
”ovember 1942 by Coering., ivith the stated purpose of "harnessing the 
entire economic potential of the Occupied Eastern Territories to a still 


SECRET 









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- XI - 


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greater extent than heretofore in the service of the German war economy," 
Actually. this government company was created as the apex of the struc¬ 
ture of German trading firms in occupied Russia,, to serve as their pro¬ 
moter and their directing agent- Specifically,, its tasks were to supply 
all the workers active in the C-erman interest, particularly the personnel 
of the Cerman trustee "astern Companies, with consumers' goods, to cor¬ 
relate the Planning of requirements and production of consumers' goods 
by the Eastern Companies, to take over as much as possible of the pro¬ 
duction of consumers* goods from the Eastern Companies and develop it 
elsewhere, to help in'the transfer of industries manufacturing consumers* 
goods into the framework of the Eastern Companies, to guide foreign 
trade of all kinds (including both import and export for the Eastern 
Companies), to supply industry and handicraft with the means of production, 
to collect and market scrap material. The Chairman of the Administra¬ 
tive Council of the company was SS-Erigadefuohrer Dr. Frans Hayler. who 
was uawil recently Leader of the Reich Croup for Trade, and is now Sec- 
retary of State in the ministry of Economics, The structure of Canaan 
trading companies of which the "irtschaftseinsets Ost is the head is 
controlled all down the line by this Reich Croup in the Occupied East. 

The Fnerderungsgosel Ischaft douta cher^I^u^^ 

(Promotion Company for Cerman Trading Ihterprises in the'Gotland) and the 
sellschaft deutscher Ea nfej^^^ 

were created early in 1942 by this Reich Group Trade to supervise the 


CjBCRKT v 





















- 12 * S ECRET 

German tradera and to promote their interests by representing them in 
relation to the authorities* providing means of transportation* etc 

dirtschaftseinsatz Ost Gmb:I was set up after them to cap this struc¬ 
ture and to give it governmental sanction and powers a VJith the dis- 
solution of this structure goes eta o of the most important of the ITazi 
arguments advanced to pacify the commercial circles of Germany for the 
loss of their overseas markets„ 7‘ith it too goes the ground for civil 
administration of whatever remains in the Cast, 

lie. The preparation of the Government General for military opera¬ 
tions has taken roughly the same form as in occupied Russia: actions 
in the interest of military security of which lip-service paid to a 
conciliatory German policy,, announced as a contrast to Soviet policy,, 
forms a part* Administrative* economic, and police measures have been 
enacted with a view to preparing the ter itory for operations,. In tVie 
administrative field* a state of emergency has been declared in several 
Polish cities. In economic affairs, two new defense councils have been 
set up by Governor Ceneral Frank: a Defense Committee and a Gar Economy 
Staff,!/ Police measures for the military security of the Covemment 
General include: a decree providing the death penalty for all non- 
Germans 0 except the nationals of neutrals and allies of Germany* con¬ 
victed by the summary courts of the German Security Police for impeding 
or embarrassing the German program or for contravening the decrees and 

l/ Weekly Round-up* Central "urope* 11 Oct 0 1943, 


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13 


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ordinances of the Goman authorities;l/ a decree providing that all 
German officials must carry arms and designating places of assembly 
for officials ana the Armed Forces in case of an uprising;^/ and a 
reorganization of the German police in ?oland?3/ This reorganization 
has been explained by the Germans as a result of Himmler's desire to 
assign SS officers v/ith experience at the front to administrative 
positions in the Government General Actually „ it represents a com¬ 

promise between the Vfehmacht, which wished the SS police forces re¬ 
moved from the Government General altogether as part of its preparation 
of defences along the 1939 frontier and IIimmler"s desire tc strengthen 
the SS as the representative of the executive power of the central 
Reich government as against the territorial administration of the 
Governor General* *.4/ The territorial administration is preparing the 
region for operations through the adoption of a conciliatory lin-9 
characteristic of a military administration* Governor General Frank 
ha8 been making speeches calling for the collaboration of the Poles 
against the Soviet danger., which the Germans allege to be confirmed by 
the Moscow Conference: he has made at least one address in Polish 
praising Polish culture and has promised the "loyal understanding" of 
the German authorities for all Polish collaborationists*5/ 

l/ Weekly Round-up, Central Europe,, 1 Gov,. 1943 e 

2/ Political Intelligence Report, Central Europe, 27 Nov. 1943 0 

J/ Ibid./ 4 Dec. 1943; Situation Report, Central Europe, 11 Dec* 1943* 

4/ Ibid,., 

*3/ ToTTtical Intelligence Report, Central Europe, 6 >!ov 0 1943; Situation 
Report, Central Europe, 1 Jan. 1944; Press Intellc, Soviet Press Review, 
6 Jan. 1944o 


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IIIo German policy in the Balkans since the collapse of Italy throws 
the latest phase of the pattern of occupation into the clearest relief* 
>inee in that area every condition for it is strongly represented*l/ 
Militarily* invasion by the Testern n owers is imminent^ the armies of 
the Soviet Union are approaching; full-scale operations are already 
taking place against the partisans. Politically* the defection of Italy 
as an occupying force has left great gaps in the control system over 
’v.hich German military administration must be stretched and at the same 
time has given Germany the opportunity to play the role of liberator and 
thereby attract collaborating native forces to ease the administrative 
burden in civil affairs. The result has been a complete reorganization 
in the field of military administration proper and a violent diplomatic 
agitation aiming at native collaboration in the administratioric This 
is to be achieved by means of actual and promised concessions of both 
sovereignty and territory; by placing disputed territories on the market* 
Balkan rivalries are to be stirred and thereby administration on the 
divide-and-rule thesis made possible. 

The military reorganization has dissolved tiv* regular military 
administrations in Serbia and Greece and created in their stead a Mili¬ 
tary Gomnander for the South-east ( General der Infontarie Felber) as 
head of the military administration and responsible to the tactical 
Commander for the Southeastern theatre in an operational rear zone pattern.. 

l/ This summarizes joint report of Balkan and Central European Sections 
on German Policy in. the Balkans* R© & A e 'To 0 1564o 


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tnt.. ticn of the new re men military administration to take over 
essential security task in' the Balkans is revealed in the following 

► 

linages: the transfer of former Bulgarian-occupied territory into en 
operational zone under German command (with Bulgarian units in. a sub¬ 
ordinate role) the reorganization of Serb armed forces into a state 
gendarme -ie with limited functions under the strict supervision of tho 
Ccrman SS and nolice* end similar reorganization of the Croat police 
and seemity services into one state police force the preparation for 
oho incorporation of the operational zones of Bench Tyrol and the Adri- 
kal region into the Reic] 

of -ieufct. .sen, former Commissioner Plenipotentiary for Economy in Serbia* 
s the Chief of the Military Administration in the South-east under 
elber 'lows the determination of the Wehrmacht to control che udrain is- 
ration of the Balkan economy for war purposes 0 

Th: arrangement leaves only non-essential activities under civil 

control fad hence the Germans have been able to undertake a liberal role 
n order to gel. relief in' tho administration of these civil affairs and 
to allay resistance in the Rear Zone To pursue a total Balkan military 
ituatic, the posts of the Plenipotentiaries of the Foreign Office in 
Serbia and in Creece have boen liquidated and a Special Plenipotentiary 
? the roign Office for tho South-east at the office of the Military 
omm&ndc has beon ere ate d c SA-Obergruppenfuehrer ftro Hermann Meubacher 
srmerly Deputy Leader of the AT SDAP in Austria Mayor of Vienna* member 
f the central administration of IC Farben,. and special commissioner for 

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16 


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economic and financial questions in Rumania and in Greece, has been 
appointed Special Plenipotentiary* with the special mission of making 
* the south-east a healthy sphere of European solidarity and integrating 
it into its natural position in the Central European economy„ to use 
the German phraseology 0 Actually his mission is part of the German 
plan*, which has been implemented as well by conferences of leaders of 
the Balkan countries in Berlin, to keep these countries distrustful of 
one another end dependent on Germany. fence each of the concessions 
offered or promised has been offset by a counter-balance which keops 
the favored country in the leading-strings of tho Reicho Albania has . 
been granted independence* but her Kossovo district has been put in 
doubt by vague promises concerning its possible transfer to Serbi&o 
Serbia has been granted full territorial sovereignty over the Banat* 
but tho Germans maintain their influence by the special constitution 
of the Volksgruppe as a public corporation within the Serb state; she 
has been promised access to the sea by the incorporation of Montenegro 
within a federal Serb state* but Montenegro has been granted her inde¬ 
pendence apparently for this very purpose and a necessary condition of 
tho incorporation is the inclusion of the German-sponsored Montenegrin 
leaders within the Serb government,, Croatia has been granted Dalmatia* 
but this has been countered by the transfer of the Adriatic coastal 
sene to a German Chief of Civil Administration,; in apparent preparation 
for annexation* and by vague promises to Serbia concerning Bosnia* The 
Bulgarian zcne of occupation has been extended but only in order to use 


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Bulgarian troops in subordinate capacities throughout the strategic 
area of south-east* md besides her tit].© to previously occupied parts 
of iilacedcaiia and Thrace have been thrown into doubt by vague promises 
to Greece* Greece has been promised independence after the war and 
there has been talk cl so of the transfer of the Dodecanese and the 
Ionian Islands to her*. 

Thus by the use of national groups 6 like the Albanians,, Mcnten^grans* 
and the Croatians, who have no reason to expect anything from the Ailies., 
and by the use of concessions and promises which keep each country vying 
for the favor of Germany* tho Reich is attempting to play liberator as 
against Soviet federatian&l.ism and the connection of the Anglo-American 
powers with tho imperialism of monarchist Italy* This is to moke secure 
the operational zone for present military hostilities and to create pro- 
German blocs in the Halkrns eftor an Allied occupation* 

IV In tho western occupied territories*the imminence of invasion is 
causing the preparation of the area by the remans for military opera¬ 
tions*, as in tho east and south-east* but in a different form This dif«- 
feronco is based, first* on the fact that in the west there have been 
as yet no military operations and hence no conditions of defeat; secondly* 
on the fact that Germany cannot hore effectively play tho part of liberator 
as against the western Allied powers; thirdly, on the political structure 
of the area. Since in the v/ost the Germans have to deal with'established 
national states, with highly developed economies 9 whose populations rank 
high on the German racial scale* they have from the beginning conceived 
their military occupation as temporary, and had instituted a pattern of 


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administration by alliance or supervision* Thus in theso territories a 
Cerman policy of collaboration could only have boon developed earlier 
in the war* when there wore no prospects of liberation by the /llios e 
How* with invasion imminent* the German political preparation can only 
be in the direction of increasing activity by the German occupation 
forces and in the use of an ever-diminishing number of native colla- 
borationists to suppress ihe rest of the population. However* since 
hostilities in the west have not yot begun* the Germans can continue 
the facade of their old pattern: the collaborationist tools are still 
publicly considered as the representatives of the political wills of 
thoir respective nations and maintain authority within the limits set 
by German military security,. The result is a wavering policy which 
alternates between intensifying the Gorman hold and utilizing the 
native authorities,, 

A, This confusion in the German pattern shows most clearly in 
Denmark* the representative* in the previous stage* of Cerman adminis¬ 
tration by alliance* Werner Best* formulator of the 1’azi occupation 
policy based on political anti racial lines* is still trying to reach a 
solution which will save in some degree the collaborationist policy to 
which he is committed. Ceneral von lianneken* as Coramandei in Chief of 
the German troops in Denmark and responsible for its military security, 
favors a full-scale military occupation and the crushing of all internal 
resistance* The clash of these policies appears to be growing in intensity 
as. the military danger increases,, According to a recent report* Ilanneken 
has become so enraged that at one point he was considering Best’s arrest* 
a move which’was averted by the latter’s support by the Gestapo*1/ 


l/ f Stockholm wire30 Dec* 1943, OSS 26494 


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It must be emphasized that this opposition lies in the question of 
means rather than ends. Both Kanneken and Best agree that Denmark,, 
as a strategic area* must be strictly controlled,, but whereas Hanneken 
would bluntly recognize that tho Danes are an ensray people, 7ost would 
preserve some form of collaboration with at least some sections of the 
population, henneken is the military realist, Dest tho captive of his 
own ideologyo Thi3 difference came out clearly in their statements on 
the Danish executions, of which both approved* Eanneken said: "The sab¬ 
otage done in Denmark is only a pinprick, but the Vtehrmacht will not 
and cannot tolerate it any longer* Friendliness is now at en end* ft© 
are fully aware that we will not get at the English-speaking saboteurs, 
but v/e will stop sabotage acts inspired by youthful romanticism or 
misled idealism* By these death sentences we shall strike terror into 
tho population and they will therefore not be in vain." l/ Best said 
that the German authorities have waited with great patience for the' 

Danes themselves to restore order in their country; unfortunately Ger¬ 
many's patience seemed to have been interpreted by the Danes as a sign 
of weakness; Germany J s fight against the people guilty of acts of sabotage 
or attempts at such acts would be conducted with extreme measures until 
public order is restored. He concluded by expressing the hope that the 
sever© measures of the past months would help to restore the Danes ' 

t 

l/ Hews Digest, 1309, quoting Svens-:a Dagbl&det 4 Dec v 1943, 


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common sense and political judgmental/ The result of this 3 plit has 
been to make a curiosity of German policy in Denmark* The fiction of 
autonomous Danish government has boon maintained although there is 
no Parliament*, and no Cabinet* Sloven Danes havo been executed* four 
others have had their sentences commuted. The Germans have published 
an agreement between the German and tho Danish police ..hereby persons 
committing acts of sabotage against Danish property or Danish industry 
working for the German Armed Forces will be sentenced by Danish courts* 
and only persons committing sabotage directly against the Co man Armed 
Forces will be tried by German military tribunals,2/ Actually 4 , however* 
tho ground given for death sentences by Ceraan courts martial is the 
general, crime of sabotage without distruetica and Dest has expressed 
his distrust of tho Danish police and demanded that all those who 
opposed the Germans be dismissed.3/ The German Security and Order 
Police are active in Denmark* but the native anti-sabotage bodies* 
like the Schalburg Corps* are given all the publicity by the German- 
controlled press*, In the mobilization of Danish labor for work on 
fortifications* the Germans have refrained from direct compulsion but 
rather have demanded quotas of workers from tho Danish authorities*, 

A state of emergency has been declared in Jutland* where tho German 

/ Tiews Digest* 1309* quoting Transocean 5 Dec 0 1943. 

2/ FCC Daily* Transocean in English to the Far East* 29 Ncv,. 1943 0 
/ Press IntellT* quoting Svenska . o rgonbladet * 6 Dec. 1943. 


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military has taken over and. are constructing defences; yot administiVit v© 
compulsion has not bejn put directly by the w’ehrraach t upon the population,, 
rather rhe Danish uu ...orities have been compelled to set up a special 
regional aoministration to collaborate with the Germans. In all these 
things,) the desix" 1 © to get the substance while preserving the old forms 
is evident, and it is for this clinging to the outworn pattern of col¬ 
laboration that Ilarneken opposes Best® 

B 0 In ITorwp.y- similarly measures for military security" are being 
taken. Evacuat., vis of the children and the aged from coastal towns for 
reasons of miliGary safety have boon reported,l/ More significant have 
been the executions and the taking of hostages® The best-known of these 
measures was the arrest and deportation to Germany of 1200 Norwegian 
Army officers by order of the Commander in Chief of Genua troops in 
Norway, ahe* the deportation of the Oslo students to Germany.- 2/ In spite 
of the fa t that the Oslo University controversy had been the concern 
of the 7 jrwegian !IS V the arrest v/as carried out by the German military 
and pc "ice* with Norwegian units playing a subordinate role, Vhile this 
acticr. has now boon suspended* a recent report states that the Gormans 
hav begin to take "freo hostages" among the students and teachers at 
Tro dhoi i Collegers./ The German authorities have been enabled to make 
a •'arbei defense of their old political line of racial collaboration in 

1 St»ckholra wire* 141* 15 Jan, 1944 0 

2/ Se* Situations Report* Central Europe* 11 Dec® 1943„ 

London wire* 26* Dec a 31* 1943 0 

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Norway* despite these measures v by pointing to the Quisling government 
as the representative of Norway. Hence in his reply to the Swedish not9 
of protest on the Oslo students,, Ribbentrop insisted not only that Ger¬ 
many was acting for her own military interests as occupant* but also 
that she was defending Norway “s interests against disloyal subjects* find 
that therefore the Swedish government had no right to speak for Norway o 
By representing herself as both military occupant and ally of Norway* 
Germany has been enabled to prepare the territory for the stage of mili= 
tary administration while maintaining her attempts at collaboration^. 

Hstece it ha3 been recently reported that even the German military author¬ 
ities in Norway* including the Cammander in Chief of the Cerman troops* 
Falkenhorst* has decided to support the Quisling regime unequivocally 
as the only possible government for the crisis; the MS government* in 
return, is co-operat5 g with the ffehrmacht in decentralizing the Nor¬ 
wegian administration in preparation for its use by the local German 
military commander*l/ 

C, In Belgium and France* which are under regular military adminis¬ 
trations * the preparation of tho territories for hostilities does not 
involve any great administrative changes. Yet even here the development 
is cleur* There have boon persistent reports of a change in personnel 
of. tho German military administration of Belgium and Northern France. 
According to these* General Falkenhausen has been replaced as military 

l/ Stockholm via London wire* 76* 10 Jan* 1944* 


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Commander of Belgium and Northern France by SS-Obergr uppenfuehrer 
JungklauSo Since Falkenhausen has sought to represent himself as a 
soldier * gentleman,, and an opponent of the SS policy in Belgium* 
this move is interpreted as a tightening of the controls in advance of 
the invasion.1/ Following the same pattern is the report of the de¬ 
cision by the German military administration in Belgium to seize all 
radio sets ,Zf The formation of new anti-terrorist squads by order cf 
the Gorman-*appointed Commandant of the Belgian Gendarmerie illustrates 
the careful use the Germans now make of the collaborationists; the 
squads attend courses given by the German police and their duties are 
connected with those of the Gentians,.3/ 

D. In France, similarly* the Gorman military controls are being 
extended and a wary* selective use is being made of the most militant 
collaborationists., Abetz t formerly a representative of the Reich 
Foreign Office at the office of the head of the German military adminis¬ 
tration in France and advocate of a policy of collaboration has returned 
to France and* according to reports* has proposed to Retain the elevation 
of the militant collaborationists to the cabinet to work with the Germans 
in putting down resistance^/ The result has been a roorganization of 
the Vichy cabinet to include the most extreme French Nazis t including 

l/ Situation Report, V.estem Europe* 3 Jan, 1944 0 

2/ Political Intelligence Report* Western Europe* 6 Dec. 1943 c 

\f Ibid • 

4 / See BW Weeksby* 24 Dec, 1943 , 


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the leaders of the para-railitary units*!/ This use of an ever smaller 
number of Frenchmen by the Germans in reality marks the end of the policy 
of collaboration and the beginrinr of the transfer to direct German con¬ 
trol j at least one of the para-military organizations which arc being 
encouraged has now been enrolled directly under the Gorman SS and is 
subsidized by the Germansv2/ It is reported that the Germans arc pre¬ 
pared to extend di.rect military control over all Franco „ since the 
necessity of securing strategic linos now outweighs political policy.S/ 
and General von Rundotedr tactics! Comma*!dor of the Army Croup tVest i3 
reported to have conferred with Retain on measures to be pursued in case 
of an Allied invasion: the French police are to be put under German 
command^ French Army officers are to be arrested und sent to Germany, 
ell political suspects are to be imprisoned^/ Tho German abendonnent 
of collaboration in France is confirmed by the report that the Comans 
are not perturbed by the increasing defection of French collaboration^ 
ists since it will eas© thoir task of taking over tho administration 
when military events demand it, 5/ 

E„ In the Netherlands, ns in France, the intensification of German 
pressure amidst a scone of increasing defection of N&'zi sympathizers has 
led to greater employment of the most reliable collaborationists against 
tho rest of the population* New armed bodies of Dutch Nazis have been 

\J Situation Report, ©stern Europe*, 3 Jan, 1944. 

2/ Sec FVi Weekly* 31 Dec 0 1943. 
o/ Ibid, 15 Oct. 1943. 

T/ Ibid. 12 Nov. 1943. 

g/ p&iXy. Intelligence Summary,,. 10 Jan . 1944. 


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fcrmed-~oity arid rural guards,, Yoirthstorra units, and a new Landw&chc-•- 
but for the most part these have been armed under restrictive condi¬ 
tions; the Youthstorm units are to be under the control of the German 
police^ 1/ while the Germans have restricted membership in the Land /aeht 
to & select group of Dutch Nazis.2/ This has taken place against a 
background of open admissions of desertions from Dutch Gasi ranks S Z/ 
and the formation of a Special Service section within the :ISB to &c ; 
as an internal counter-espionage organization within tho party,4/ The 
German use of limited circles of natives is further illustrated by Jhe 
fact that the Cermans alternately support the Dutch Vo.»x leadership 
(iluesert) and the Dutch SS in their internecine clashes^ thereby re¬ 
ducing both to the nature of mere tools, The Germans exercise military 
controls more directly in extending the areas of evacuation along the 
Dutch coast and preparing other cities for emergency evacuation,5/ 

F„ A sign of the present development in German occupation policy 
appears oven in tho incorporated territory of Luxembourg, At a meeting 
of Party officials held under tho leadership of the Gauleiter it was 
decided that the whole problem of re-settlement must receive final sola* 
tion„ To attain this* deportation becomes a definite consequence of 
any suspicion thrown upon natives.,; such as that accruing to the parents 

Aneta„ 9 Dec. 1943, 

2 / PcTItTcal Intelligence Report, western Europe,, 29 Nor. 1942. 

3/ Situation Report* Western Europe.,, 10 Jan., 1944. 

4/ Ibid, 3 Jan. 1944, 

£/ Ibid. 20 Dec. 1943. 














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of a deserter from the nehrraacht . Moreover, the settlement of poll 
tically reliable Reich Germans in Luxembourg must be intensified It 
as emphasised that this solution of the problem was necessary to the 
security of the R3ichr 

Three factors are behind the fact that a more liberal political 
line is being taken in the occupied east than in tho occupied west: 
the existence of national states in the -west as opposed to the national 
minorities in the east,, the character of the enemy~-=the Anglo-Americans 
in the west und the Soviet Russians in the east* and finally the actual 
conditions of military defeat in the east as opposed to mobilisation 
for resistance in tho west. These factors make it unfeasible for the 
Germans to exploit the political line of national liberation in the 
,Teato V.hat the final phase of German occupation policy in the west 
may be when conditions of military defeat will appear is already indi- 
cated in the Cerman pattern in occupied northern Italy* ".bile the area 
is under strict military control and is especially subjected to severe 
economic looting and exploitation of the military type,, the Germans are 
following a socialist propaganda line in order to show Allied occupation 
policy in an unfavorable light und to create nuclei of workers' 1 resis¬ 
tance lo the Allies in Italian territory conquered and to be conquered.?/ 
An intimation that this policy will be extended to western Europe ha3 

\/ OSS Daily Intelligence Summary.,, 5 Jan. 1944* 


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already been given in an address by Seyss-Inquart 0 Reich Commissar 
for tho Occupied Netherlands,., in praise of communism.-!/ The final 
function of Nazi occupation may well be to play the socialist friend 
of western European labor against the "capitalistic” Anglo-American 
powers,, just as it now exploits the theme of national liberation in 
the east against the "imperialism" of the Soviet IJnion.- 




l/ See Situation Report, Central Europe* 18 Jan. 1944. 


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